Educational Equity Matching Program

Thank you for your interest in the Educational Equity Matching Program. Due to the outstanding response of donors to this program, we have now exhausted all available matching funds and the matching program has concluded. Donors may still create Educational Equity scholarships, but matching funds are no longer available.

Penn State’s land-grant mission—to reach all citizens of our Commonwealth through teaching, research, and service—can only be realized when we are equitable and inclusive. At a pivotal moment in our country’s engagement with race and justice, the “We Are” spirit that has united the Penn State community for generations is finding new expression through a $10 million commitment from the University and the establishment of the Educational Equity Matching Program.

Among the first of many efforts underway to ensure a diverse, equitable, and inclusive Penn State experience, the Educational Equity Matching Program invites supporters to take action for a better future. Through the program, donors can double or triple their support for scholarships that reach students whose gender, race, ethnic, cultural, and/or national background contribute to the diversity of the student body and, for undergraduate scholarships, who have a demonstrated financial need for funds to meet their necessary college expenses.

Scholarships created to support diversity, equity, and inclusion objectives with the most flexibility in awarding—those administered by the Office of Educational Equity or other centrally directed programs—may be eligible for a 2:1 match, and scholarships following the same diversity criteria but with a college or campus-specific designation may qualify for a 1:1 match.

Though donors can take up to five years to fulfill their commitments, the Educational Equity Matching Program will immediately shift University funds into new endowments, allowing students to begin receiving support from a gift in the semester after the scholarship is established. This matching program is available until June 30, 2022, or until matching funds are exhausted.

Questions about funding a scholarship?

David J. Lieb

Senior Associate Vice President

Office of University Development

814-863-0694

Your Gift, Penn State’s Match

An illustration of how the power of a $25,000 gift can be multiplied through the Educational Equity Matching Program.

For a University-wide scholarship:

1: Initial gift

$25,000 pledge from donor, payable over five years.

2: Following quarter

The University applies the 2:1 match of $50,000 to the endowment principal.

Approximately 4.5 percent of the endowment’s principal value of $50,000 is paid out, early activating the scholarship and making approximately $2,250 in aid available in the next academic year.

3: Next four years

As the donor makes additional pledge payments, the awarded amount increases each year.

4: Upon completion

When the pledge is fully paid, the scholarship will pay out on the full amount of the endowment of $75,000 or approximately $3,375 annually.

For a college/campus-specific scholarship:

1: Initial gift

$25,000 pledge from donor, payable over five years.

2: Following quarter

The University applies the 1:1 match of $25,000 to the endowment principal.

Approximately 4.5 percent of the endowment’s principal value of $25,000 is paid out, early activating the scholarship and making approximately $1,125 in aid available in the next academic year.

3: Next four years

As the donor makes additional pledge payments, the awarded amount increases each year.

4: Upon completion

When the pledge is fully paid, the scholarship will pay out on the full amount of the endowment of $50,000 or approximately $2,250 annually.